The GIS2GPS Team, a group of educators, has been involved in Geographic
Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) training
across the Midwest for the past seven years. The team developed the first
ESRI Authorized K-12 Training Program in Illinois. Over the past several
years, the team has been involved in designing, training and technical
support for schools across the State of Illinois. This project was part
of Technology Literacy Challenge Grant, which was designed to stimulate
the use of GIS and GPS technologies with Illinois K-12 students.

The team also conducted introductory workshops on GIS and GPS to educators
to develop a working knowledge of GIS and GPS, experience Internet
interactive GIS applications as well as an introduction to ESRI GIS
software. Teachers, working in the field, saw how various resource
agencies and industries use GIS and GPS in their daily work.

The team has worked with the Illinois Rivers Project at Edwardsville,
Illinois and the TOPS Institute of Southern Illinois University. The
TOPS Institutes was specially funded to provide technological applications
for environmental monitoring. These special grants provide technology
training for Illinois teachers and funded under a grant by the ISBE.

Over the past summers, the team has been involved with the Area III
Learning Technology Center of Illinois which extends over fourteen
counties. The team has taught four-day courses for grades 5-12 math
and science teachers in GIS and GPS technologies and their applications
in the classroom. The courses provided teachers with information about
GIS and GPS, why it is important in education, and ways of implementing
this technology into the school curriculum.

The GIS2GPS Team has spearheaded GIS and GPS technologies in Illinois
schools, which allows students to explore the possibilities of the
technology available that can be incorporated into community planning,
workforce development, demographic analysis, marketing, and many other
career fields. The GIS2GPS Team has been conducting workshops and running
various activities engaging teachers in geospatial technologies for
several years. They have been instrumental in getting a number of schools
up and running with GIS and GPS. Many participants having entered these
learning opportunities with only hearing the acronyms GIS and GPS,
and have left with a plethora of meaningful ways to begin to implement
and integrate these tools within their curriculum. The team has been
instrumental in bringing GIS and GPS to schools in rural and urban
communities. In addition, the team has developed an Internet Web site,
www.gis2gps.com, which provides meaningful resources, including lessons,
connections to K-12 Illinois Learning Standards, and supporting information
that is needed to support the growth of these important technological
advances for students and educators.

The Illinois GIS Professional Association of Illinois (ILGISA) which
is made up of GIS professionals from across the state honored the team
with their Service Award for their efforts in bringing GIS to the K-12
schools in Illinois. The award was presented at the Fall Conference
in 2002.

The Service Award is presented to an individual or organization, which
has provided exemplary professional service or support to the GIS community.
In this case it the GIS2GPS TEAM that received the award for its ongoing
effort in bringing this needed technology to the K-12 environment.
GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and GPS (Global Positioning Systems)
are new and essential tools for students in the 21st century.

Through their effort, students across Illinois are being exposed to
these tools that they eventually will be using in the future. As professionals
we are excited to see this being successfully introduced to the students
and teachers in our communities. As professionals we see this as an
excellent opportunity for schools and communities to collaborate on
real time projects.

The latest GPS endeavor in technology is taking one of the fastest
growing outside activities, Geocaching (is an outdoor treasure-hunting
activity in which the participants use a GPS receiver to hide and seek
containers called caches anywhere in the world) and turning it into
EcoCaching, an educational twist to geocaching. The term was coined
in partnership with Dr. Michael Wiant, Director of the Dickson Mounds
Museum and is derived from ecology, more specifically human ecology,
and it refers to any place where a natural or cultural feature may
be found on the landscape. An EcoCache is an educational virtual geocache
that people can visit to view a unique feature. EcoCaching is the concept
of treasure hunting for caches that the Earth has stored. There is
no hidden container to find, the treasure is the lessons learned about
our planet when visiting each site, and through the accompanying interpretive
materials

As educators we ask, “What can our students learn from geocaching?” Well
the learning possibilities are endless. Students employ the understanding
of latitude, longitude, and other basic geographic tools. They will
learn more about the area in which live, including places they haven’t
been before, local history, and more. They will also learn to use a
technology that is fun and useful. It is also a very good way to exercise
their mind and body. The best outcome is they will learn to become
lifelong learners and explorers of the world around them

The GIS2GPS Team also developed the first "Educational Geocaching
Association" (ILEGA) in the USA. ILEGA (www.ilega.org) will exist
to enhance the GPS experiences and Geocaching experiences in the educational
communities across the State of Illinois by sharing ideas, projects
and information. The web site will reflect the activities and goals
of the organization.

The GIS2GPS Team consists of Edward Gorny and Nancy Gorny, cofounders
of the GIS2GPS Team. Edward Gorny is a junior high technology teacher
at Jefferson Junior High in Woodridge and past math department chair.
Nancy Gorny retired from the world of education as a high school media
center director and has additional background in geography. Denis Kazelas
is a high school chemistry teacher at Marist High School in Chicago.
Carol Przyzycki retired from the Department of Education at Argonne
National Labs in ILL. She works closely with staff development and
Women in the Sciences program. Patty Zriny is presently working in
the Department of Education at Argonne National Labs; she also works
with developing hands-on science activities for educators to use in
the classroom.

The team started working together in 1994 bringing something called
the Internet to schools in the six-county area of Chicago. Since then
they have been involved in all areas of technology and staff development.
Presently they feel that geography and geotechnologies will provide
the lens and the tools with which students can grapple with their local,
regional, and global issues that surround them to build a sustainable
future.

A Final thought on GIS & GPS. GPS and GIS are the next
great leap in technology for education. Staying on the cutting edge
will guide
students to bigger achievements in the 21st century. When students
enter college / higher education, they should be asking where the GIS
lab an not what is GIS.